It is a common practice to use one and two row potato combines or harvesters but is not been practical to build a three or four row potato combine.
In the conventional construction of a potato combine, a machine of a size to dig three or four rows of potatoes at one time would be too large and bulky for transport over roads or for shipment. However, with the increase in the number of rows of potatoes which may be harvested at one time with a single machine, there is a substantial reduction in the unit cost of harvesting potatoes and from a digging or harvesting cost point of view, this is highly desirable.
Hence, it is an object of this invention to provide the option of the use of a two row potato combine as such or providing for its modification for use as a three or four row potato combine, as may be desired.
It is another object of this invention to make use of the conveyor structure of a two row potato combine and to provide for the modification of its basic frame to accommodate a three or four row potato digger apron.
It is a further object of this invention in connection with the basic frame and conveyor superstructure of a two row potato combine to provide at least a three row potato digger apron, a demountable outboard frame to each side of said frame structure including a support member and yielding suspension means supporting said digger apron, a pair of angularly disposed conveyors in converging relation with one another being positioned rearwardly at each side of said digger apron to receive the crop passed upwardly by said digger apron and converging the same onto the single adjacent elevating conveyor of said basic frame and driving means in connection with said pair of conveyors and said digger apron.
It is a more general object of this invention in utilizing a two row potato combine frame structure to accommodate a three or four row potato digger apron to provide readily mounting and demountable structure for modification of said two row potato combine frame structure.